Omaha daily bee., 1887-04-05
PRESENT AND PUTATlVE
Matters and Men at This Time in the Black
Hills Country
LURID AND LAUGHING LEISURE.
Deadwood and Rapid City-Mining
Men-Mun'cipal Politics-L,Quor
Men in the Field-Spicy Letter
From "Twicehop."

gigling and (somc of them) festivating
over the clever coup by which the late
territorial legislature was got to pass
over the governors veto the county divi-
sion bill; that bill was Il general one in
terms with the special object of dividing
Lawrence county. What is not 80 well
known is, that it is particularly a drive"
at Deadwood, the present county seat, as
it is taken for granted that any division
of the present county will involve the
necessity for more central To-
cation of its future capital than Dead.
wood will be after the division. In fact.
the division movement is sort of burn.
ng the barn to get rid of the rats, having
had its origin chiefly in the revolt of the
country precincts against what is called
"the Deadwood court house ring" that
has the credit of so agregiously debauch
ing county administration. Councilman
Washabaugh, who worked encrgetically
for the bill, is from Deadwood, but he
owes his nomination and election to his
committal in advance to this measure
lnimcal to the place of his residence.
This clearly illustrates the extent to
which the politics of this county have
divided on the line, Deadwood on one
side and everybody else on the other.
ALURID LUNCH.
Aside from this antagonism, however,
there are motives geographical and spec
ulatve back of the division scheme. The
proposed line of dissection will clearly
segregate the agricultural from the min
ing districts and leave each country
more homogeneous in interests and prod
ucts. The demand for division comes
from the agricultural eastern half, aud
will greatly increase their taxation for a
cutting them OIL from the large taxpayers
of the mines. But they will escape the
future payment of the enormous county
debt, and that is the bugbear that is
breaking up Lawrence county and break
ing her down. Several places, too have
eyes on the location of the two future
county seats. Sturgis, which claims that
honor for the new county, is the home OF
Representative Patton, chief engineer of
a town lot boom to Sturgis. 1t has
already brought a boom to Patton. On
the 18th, the former gave rubicund re-
ception to the latter on his return from
the wars at Bismarck, on which occasion
the burden of the toasts was, GLORY to
Patton and Death to Deadwood!" One
of the singular features of this sectional
quarrel Is the fact that the leaders of the
anti-Deadwood part live in that place
and are identified with its interests.
They have had the prescience and policy
to recognize the popular drift and get
control of movement thus essentially
antagonistic to them. There are good
| politicians ut Deadwood.
ACTIVITY IN THE MINES.
Indications point towards year of
unusual activity in practical mining op-
erations. Sundays issues of the lead.
wood papers contain notices of assess.
ments levied by twentyfour mining
companies. These, added to those al.
| ready collected this spring. call for
| $40, 900 to be expended, not in productive,
but in dead work. development. As
most of this stock is held in the Hills, the
facts show rs well that the men Of the
Hills put thcir money up liberally on
| their faith in its resources as that there is
a good deal of sand" and some money
| left here, Notwithstanding bank failures
and tight money market
DISCOURAGED BULLS.
As encouraging reports cannot be made
| of the speculative market, the trouble
with the new mining exchanges that was
predicted in this correspondence already
| begins to show ITSELF The bull move.
pected and probably organized to
promote, halts and staggers. The
range of prices is lower than when last
wrote, though everybody Processes to
have done the best boosting he could.
There are complaints in the papers and
on the streets that wildcat mines are
| listed, wash sales" permitted to de-
community was shocked by the published
statement that "a bear movement is un.
der way that if allowed to run its course
will be hurtful to every INTEREST,"" (sicD
The prospects for gambling under a one.
sided game such as is here demanded are
not tlattering, and we may look to see
the Deadwood exchange either play out
or incur the odium of enmity to local
interests. 1t is a noteworthy fact in this
connection that all the stocks listed in
the exchange, thus far, only two have
ever enjoyed the endorsement of divl-
dend; tho rest are stocks of undeveloped
or only partially developed properties
| RAPID REVOLUTION.
Rapid City's municipality seems to be
drifting into arnica." She Is enjoying
the distinction of coup d'etat, albeit it
is "little one for cent Her common
council is composed of four aldermen,
equally divided on the liquor question.
| Mayor Simons, who is president of the
| council, is q trimmer on most questions,
but on this one he has given casting
vote with the two aldermen who favor
high licenses. The liquor men were in
tins way beaten last winter when they
tried to get the licenses reduced. Last
week the mayor and one of the temper
ance aldermen were ont of town and the
two proliquor aldermen were in the ma.
jority. A hurried, quiet meeting was
called; Behrens, the remaining high
license member, was forced IN
to the chair; Gantz made the motions,
Sawyer seconded them, and e. and 5.
voted; the following reforms" were
rushed through; The board of water
commissioners was abolished the city
attorney was expelled from Office; the
chief of police was instructed TO release
ali prisoners in custody, a dozen or SO,
under various sentences; the superin-
tendent of the water works was IN
structed to furnish water to consumers
who had been shut oil for refusal to pay
rates. The water-commssioner drink
only their only fluid and are objection
able; the city attorney is unpopular,
professionally, with the saloon element
These officials hold their offices by
virtue of laws unrepealed by this action;
and, such as it is, the whole batch of
| resolutions yae vetoed bv the DrO. fem